If you are like me, then one of life’s hardest questions that you will tackle on a daily basis is “what am I going to eat for lunch?”
Friends who eat out with me tend to despair and most often run of patience waiting for me to make up my mind, some end up telling me what to buy in the end. I suppose they don’t understand the pressure I feel every time I have to buy something to eat.
If we are at a restaurant, there are about 20 entrée to choose from! What if the beef isn’t tender enough? What if the fish has the fishy taste? What if the crème brûlée is better than the chocolate tart I want to order? This ordeal multiplies exponentially when I am at a hawker centre. There are now more shops with more choices and I can spend more than half my lunch hour just deciding what to eat. (So I started planning what to have for lunch an hour before lunch break. It didn’t help matters.)
By the time I eventually make my decision, I am an emotional wreck; my palms are sweaty, knees weak, arms are heavy, there’s vomit on my sweater already, mom’s spaghetti…wait! Those were the lyrics to Eminem but they encapsulate how I feel when I have to make the final decision on what to order.
If only there was something that could make my decision making easier!
The fix:
There are many apps already on the market, which helps with decision-making. But most of them rely on crowd intelligence with apps that focus on social polling to help the individual make the final call. The questions however do not require an immediate answer. The questions range from asking where to go for holidays “ Sandy beach or summer house?” to “What should I do on date night?”
Seesaw allows member to post their questions with images, and other members or ‘community’ will vote on what they think is best to help the poster make the decision. According to reviews by users, this app is “clean, fast, elegant and exploding with crowd intelligence.” Seesaw also allows you to share your decision with friends via other major social network sites.
But I hardly think you will have the time to use this when you need an immediate answer!
Ultimate decision maker comes closer to what I had in mind. I love the way this app was described ‘(the bad thing is) you still have to deal with decisions but the good news is you now have a better tool for this.’ This app comes with 5 sections that will help with random decision-making.
This comes with new set of problems. Now I will have to decide which of the section I have to use to help me choose an answer. Besides the creator has specifically said that the “development of this app focuses on graphical layout …it requests a good mobile to run it smoothly. If I have to care low-priced mobile, I would just give you a text field instantly shows you the result when you tap it. This will not be funny.”
With such warning, I will definitely not be using this app simply because it doesn’t sound inviting, and to a certain extent callous towards the needs of the end user.
So it seems, there wasn’t anything that was catering to my needs of helping me make immediate decisions like a pro. I decided to fix this.
Presenting “THE MAGIC ‘ATE’ BALL” (Pun intended!)
Step 1: Open the app. Tap on the Magic 8 ball.
Step 2: Fill the list of choices you have. (Max 8 of course)
Step 3: Shake the phone! Violà! Your answer appears on the screen.
(Thank you little Teochew for picture used )
The beauty of the app is that when you see the answer and your heart sinks six feet under ground, you know this isn’t what you wanted. You can choose the other choice instead. On the other hand, if you are happy with what appeared on screen, you know this is it! Obviously the less choices you submit in step 2, easier it gets to know what you really want.
Besides, making decision about what to eat, imagine other ways this app can help you choose between things in the future?
Your boyfriend is proposing to you on bended knees, and you pluck your potential answers into the phone “yes” “no” “maybe” and shake your phone. An answer floats into existence. It’s a “yes” but you feel this isn’t what you wanted to see. You know what to do now.
Life is gonna be a breeze, y’all. Now somebody go work on this app.
PS, additional notes after a conversation with my friends over our whatsapp:
One of them pointed out that apps in existence already uses the magic eight ball concept. I checked them out and Magic 8 Ball for example depends on you having one specific choice in mind and you need help in deciding what to do about it. For instance, should I get chicken rice? You think this in your head,and shake the magic ball app, and it gives you answers such as “yes” “maybe”. You get the picture? One of them even suggested that we go old school, think of what you need and ask your friend to randomly pull one of your fingers which represents these choices. What makes “Magic ate ball” app is that you don’t need someone to pull your finger (trust me, after a while your friends will be tempted to snap your fingers instead) , I mean what happens if you are alone, and if you have more than one choice, then this app is for you.
Eeny, meeny, miny moe, decision making is my foe – Click To Tweet
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